California wildfires: Death toll climbs to 51 as strong winds bring new blazes near Los Angeles
Blaze incinerates more than 8,800 homes and other buildings
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Your support makes all the difference.The remains of six more victims of California’s most lethal and destructive wildfire in history have been found, bringing the death toll to 48 in the so-called Camp Fire in northern California and 51 total, statewide.
Forensic teams with cadaver dogs spent the day combing through ash and charred debris in what was let of the town of Paradise, around 175 miles (280km) north of San Francisco, near the state capital of Sacramento. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said 100 National Guard troops were being sent in at his request to assist in the search for additional human remains left by the Camp Fire.
The names of 80 people, many of them elderly, have been released in an effort to locate them amid the blaze damage.
The intensified effort to locate victims comes on the sixth day of a blaze that has incinerated more than 8,800 homes and other buildings, including most of Paradise, a town once home to 27,000 people that was largely erased hours after the fire began last Thursday. More than 50,000 local residents remained under evacuation orders.
In southern California, the Woolsey Fire has killed three people, destroyed more than 400 structures and displaced some 200,000 people in the mountains and foothills near the Malibu coast west of Los Angeles.
Darkened skies could be seen for days as the fire raged on, with winds picking up the smoke and sending it as far as Wisconsin nearly 2,000 miles away.
The Woolsey Fire has displaced several celebrities as well including Gerard Butler, Neil Young, and Lady Gaga, who was seen delivering pizzas, coffee, and gift cards to a nearby evacuation centre in Los Angeles.
That fire has consumed more than 97,000 acres through Los Angeles and Ventura counties and leaving 57,000 residents still in danger as firefighting authorities said only half of the blaze has been contained.
Donald Trump was briefed on the situation by Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) director Brock Long. Mr Trump said he had a phone call with California governor Jerry Brown “to let him know that we are with him, and the people of California, all the way!”
The president had tweeted over the weekend the fires were due to "poor" "forest management" in the state but did not elaborate on what that actually meant. He also threatened to stop federal government payments to California, presumably funds earmarked for forest management.
To see how the day unfolded follow our live blog below
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A brush fire has consumed nearly 30 acres of homes in Rialto, located in San Bernardino County just east of Los Angeles, CBS LA reported.
The winds in Santa Ana reportedly spurred embers and pushed smoke as new flames started, with firefighters using a bulldozer and other resources immediately at their disposal in their attempts to quell the fire’s growth.
Reuters has reported the National Guard is joining the effort to search for remains in California’s deadliest wildfires in history:
The search for remains of victims in the charred ruins of the northern California town of Paradise was set to expand on Wednesday, while firefighters stepped up efforts to contain the state’s deadliest-ever wildfire.
A National Guard contingent of 100 military police trained to seek and identify human remains will reinforce coroner-led recovery teams, cadaver dogs and forensic anthropologists already scouring the ghostly landscape, left by a fire that has killed at least 48 people.
Two hundred twenty-eight had been listed as missing, but on Tuesday night local county sheriff Kory Honea said those numbers were highly fluid as some individuals may simply have fallen out of touch during chaotic evacuations.
The Los Angeles sheriff's county has released this horrifying video of a person attempting to escape the California wildfires as it raged throughout her community:
The first victims have been identified in California’s deadly wildfires, including a rock ’n’ roll musician, a loving father and a military veteran.
Read some of their stories below.
Bloomberg has reported the fires are damaging California's economy in real-time, with shares for a local utility plummeting amid reports the wildfires could make it go bankrupt in the near future:
The US Health and Human Services agency has declared a public health emergency in California after at least 50 people were killed in massive wildfires across the state. The recognition of a public health emergency allows the federal government to funnel additional funding and resources into the state as it begins on its path towards recovery.
Here's what it looks like along the Pacific Coastal Highway in California as smoke rises above mountains from numerous wildfires still ripping across the state:
As the death toll climbs to 50 and massive wildfires continue raging across the state of California, here are some ways you can help relief and recovery efforts:
Altogether, the size and scope of California’s numerous wildfires are nearly as big as 16 Manhattans. Meanwhile, officials have only contained less than half of each fire, as the death toll climbs to 50 statewide.
Donning black shades and a Malibu cap, Lady Gaga visited a local shelter where residents displaced from their homes have been staying in recent days. The singer-songwriter brought large boxes of pizza to comfort those who had lost their belongings and loved ones in the state's deadliest and most destructive fires in history.
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